From the Ashes
by Dark-Reploid
Summary: Warning: Very mild T-Cest (Kisses/Cuddles, I DON'T write lemons). Don't like this that stuff then please don't read. Setting: 2k3/2k7 Hybrid (2k3 events may not respect tv series order) After the death of Ch'rell, Karai seeks out a new leader for the Foot Clan. Are they ready for what may be their most dangerous enemy yet?
1. Prologue

Karai cautiously approached the figure standing in the shadows. She'd sent three of her Foot to deliver a message, requesting a meeting. Out of them, only one had returned. He had agreed to meet with her under the condition that she come alone, or she would suffer the same consequences as her men. Ch'rell would never have honored such an agreement, but now that he was dead once and for all she was no longer duty-bound. She would honor these conditions. There must always be a Shredder to keep the balance of power, and this was the reason she was in this dark alley. Karai had hoped he would be more honorable than Ch'rell, but she was beginning to have her doubts.

She pushed back her hood, frowning at the figure standing in the shadows. "I do not approve the needless slaughter of my ninja."

He shifted slightly, motioning vaguely behind him before crossing his arms. Karai took a cautious step forward and peered into the shadows, surprised when she found the other two tied up. They appeared as though they'd gone a round or two solo against the monsters currently plaguing the city, but were alive.

"Release my men."

"You alone?"

"I gave you my word." She said, hand near her weapon. "Foot, return to our headquarter's once you've been released, this is a private discussion." She said, directing that bit to the two captured ninjas.

For a moment he simply stood there, his eyes hard and unforgiving with the promise of pain if she tried to betray him. Eventually he gave a curt nod and moved to the tied up ninja, using a knife to cut them free. He crossed his arms as he waited for them to disappear. Once she was certain they were alone she moved closer to him, stopping when he visibly tensed.

"This is a one time offer, I require an answer before I take my leave."

He tilted his head at this, eyes narrowing.

"Leadership of the Foot Clan." She said, evenly meeting his gaze. "You will lead it as you see fit, I ask only a small price in return."

"Always a catch." He said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Become the Shredder."

"No."

Karai raised a hand up as he moved to leave. "Let me finish." She said, eyeing him as he stopped beside her. "You need only wear the armor, how you choose to portray him is at your discretion."

"Why me?"

"With you at it's heart, the Foot Clan will rise from the ashes and be redeemed," She said, eyes hopeful and showing nothing but sincerity. "You will cleanse us and restore our honor," She continued, a hand resting gently on his arm. "And you will have what you desire most, you're true place."

"If I refuse?"

"No harm will come to you and I seek out another."

He sighed and looked at the ground, face set in a thoughtful scowl. It felt like an eternity to her before he finally looked back at her.

"I'll do it."

Karai nodded, pulling out a cellphone from within the folds of the cloak she was wearing. "Keep it hidden on your person, I will message you when everything is ready."

His fist tightened around it as he gave her a firm nod. The moment he did so she dropped to her knees, extending her weapon to him as she lowered herself until her nose nearly touched the ground.

"I shall be both your shield and blade, all that you desire of me. This I swear to you upon my honor, duty-bound till my dying breath." Karai said, raising her eyes to his as he took her weapon. "I am yours to command, my Lord."


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's notes:** I'm using a headcanon in this fic. Their ages from Older-Younger : Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo

* * *

_"__I'm better off callin' my own shots." Raphael snarled as he slowly circled around him. "So get used to it!" He barked, pointing._

_"__You're not ready!" Leo shot back in frustration. "You're impatient, hot-tempered and more importantly," He continued, turning to face him. "I'm better than you."_

_Raphael laughed darkly at that. "Oh, ya know somethin' little brother, I'll have to disagree wit' ya on that one." He snarled, idly twirling his sai as he shifted his stance, looking all the more formidable in his armor._

Leo sighed as he opened his eyes, disturbed from his meditation once again by the recurrent memory. He hadn't wanted to fight, but Raph had forced his hand, and for a time he'd thought he had him on the run. But his red-banded brother had surprised him when he'd managed to focus his rage for a short moment, snapping his katanas in the process.

In a fight against Raphael, you couldn't let your guard down for even a moment. His combat-oriented mind would capitalize on any weakness faster than you could blink. Mikey had been the one to point out a valid fact years ago - if Raph got his hands on you it was game over. The best defense against him was keeping him at bay and use his rage against him. Add in his hair-trigger temper and propensity for berserk frenzies and the stakes went up tenfold.

And that was exactly what had happened. He'd dropped his guard for a moment, shocked that Raph had broken his weapons. The following blow had the red-clad turtle's full strength behind it and he'd gone down. Leo knew the only reason he was alive was because Raph didn't want to kill him.

They had reconciled afterwards, or so Leo had thought. It had been two weeks since they'd defeated the stone generals, since Winter's had died, finally free of his cursed existence. Two weeks since Karai's cryptic message before she'd vanished.

Raph had all but distanced himself from them, keeping to his room. The rare times he was with them he was dark and unreadable, his few words as sharp and painful as blades. During practice he was brutal and relentless, more so than usual.

Eventually Donatello tried to get him to say what was bothering him, being the one Raph spoke with when he was troubled. He'd flown into a rage at that point and the olive turtle's reflexes with his trusty staff were the only thing that kept the thrown wrench from connecting with his head.

Needless to say, he'd chosen not to stick his beak in the hothead's business afterwards. Mikey and Leo also tried, with mixed reactions but no closer to an answer. Splinter had tried and Raph had actually yelled at him then stormed off before their father could recover from the shock. Even Casey couldn't break down the defensive wall he was keeping himself behind and that was previously unheard of.

He heard a grunt and turned to look, finding Raph still weight lifting which he'd been doing more often than usual. He was pushing himself to his limit and refused to have any of them spot for him, which left Leo worried he might hurt himself so he'd begun to meditate whenever he did so.

Gold eyes snapped to him in that moment, his features pulling into a snarl before returning his attention to his workout. Leo sighed, feeling like everyday that went by they were loosing their brother and he had no clue why.

Raph suddenly grimaced and put his weight back, sweat beading on his emerald skin. But that wasn't what worried him. Raph was pressing his hand against his plastron, directly over his obi, looking like he was about to be sick.

Leo got up and caught Raph's arm just as he was walking past. "Raph, are you alright? Should I get Donnie?"

All he got for the effort was a snarl as the hothead wrenched his arm out of his grasp.

"Please, I'm worried about you, we all are." Leo said, grabbing his arm again. "We're here for you, don't push us away like this."

He should have sensed it coming, but his worry was clouding his judgement. One second Raph tensed and the next Leo was lying on the floor with a split lip. Raph didn't say anything, the fiery intensity in his gold eyes leaving Leo speechless. With a growl he turned and stomped off, his hand still pressed to his plastron.

_"__He's about to blow," _Leo thought, getting to his feet and using the wall for support. _"And it's not going to be pretty."_

—

Raph slammed his door shut, locking it to make sure no one would come in, though they usually knew better than to barge into his room. He moved to his hammock and sat in it, pulling out the cellphone he had hidden in his obi.

**"****Speed dial 1 when it is prudent."**

He padded silently to his door, turning off the light so he could see if someone was standing outside his door. Raph sat on the smaller bench press he kept in his room to be as far as possible from it, eyes locked on the sliver of light as he pressed the proper button.

_"__We need a plan to get you away." _The feminine voice told him the moment the line picked up.

"Patrol tonight, I'll stay behind an' sneak out after they leave."

_"__What of your Sensei?"_

"I'll worry 'bout that later. Same place, midnight. Alley, avoid da roofs."

_"__Understood."_

Raph sighed and slipped the phone back under his obi, tightening it to make sure it didn't fall out as he lay down in his hammock, staring restlessly at the ceiling. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when there was a tentative knock at his door. He ignored it, only to frown when whoever it was tried to open the door, when that didn't work they knocked again.

"Raph?"

Grumbling he stalked to the door, wrenching it open with a scowl on his face. Donatello's eyes traveled him over from head to foot before gazing solemnly at him.

"Leo told me you may not be feeling well." He said, pressing his fingers together.

"M'fine."

"He said you might be hurt."

Raph narrowed his eyes a little and the genius fidgeted. "Ain' been sleepin' good." He muttered, gazing directly at him. "Just feelin' a little under da weather, ya know?" He continued, crossing his arms. "Gonna sit out patrol tonight an' get some sleep."

His brothers thought they could read him like an open book, the truth was they read what he wanted them to, there was a lot he'd kept hidden from them over the years. Mikey was the one he had to work the hardest to trick.

Most likely because Raph had always been overprotective of the youngest and they spent a lot of time together growing up. The ever cheerful turtle was surprisingly observant, seemingly having a nose for emotions and an eye for body language.

But that bond went two ways. Raph could tell when Mikey was moping even when there was the ever bright smile on his face. The big brother in him always did everything in his power to get his baby brother out of his funks.

So when Leonardo had made a move on Mikey, his defensive nature had shifted into overdrive. Raph had eventually relented when he'd come to the conclusion that Mikey was truly happy. If Leo made Mikey happy, then that was fine in his book.

Donnie tilted his head at this a little. "Are you certain?"

"Yeah."

"I'll inform Leo." He said, smiling and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Leave your door unlocked, I'll check on you before we head out."

"I ain' a damn baby Donnie!" He snapped, brushing off his hand which earned him a hurt look from the other turtle.

"Please?" He asked softly.

They'd been together for nearly two years and Donnie knew how to get the softie out of him. Raph was fairly certain no one knew they were mates. If Mikey did, then he'd been keeping it to himself and acting none the wiser. Leaving Donatello behind made his plan all the more painful, so he'd been giving him the cold shoulder as of late.

The protector in him couldn't stand it anymore. One day he wouldn't be able to save someone. He would go to absolutely any length to keep them all safe, and if that meant leaving his family to take command of the Foot, then so be it. What better way to keep his family safe than having an army of ninja at his command?

And if they ended up hating him for it, then so be it. Raph would pay any price to keep them safe. He'd give away his life and loose their love without a shred of hesitation. No price would ever be too great for their safety. Raph would rather have them hate him and know they were alive, than live his life knowing he'd failed at protecting even a single one of them.

"Fine." He growled, crossing his arms, his face as cold as stone.

Raph could at least give his mate one last chance to fret over him, it was the least he could do.

"Thanks Raphie." He replied, smiling at him.

"Whateva'." He mumbled, closing his door and flopping down in his hammock again.

Raph waited until he saw the other's shadow leave then slipped the phone out. He fiddled around with it until he found what he wanted, setting the alarm then slipped it back in its place before turning off the alarm clock near his hammock.

_"__May as well get some sleep then, Donnie would notice if I'm fakin' it." _He thought, settling in a comfortable position and closing his eyes. _"Don' ever forget my promise, Donnie."_


	3. Chapter 2

Donatello nearly leapt out of his shell when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Leo whispered forcefully, eyeing the door with trepidation. "He'll rip your head off if he catches you in his room."

"I convinced him to let me check on him before we left." Donnie said, glancing over his shoulder.

Leo's eye ridges went up at this. "He said yes?" He asked, not bothering to hide the surprise from his voice.

"Well his exact response was _fine _but it equates to the same." Donnie replied with a soft chuckle.

Leo let out a puff of air at this. "I don't know how you do it Donnie." He said, shaking his head with a grin. "If one turtle can make our big brother cave, it's you."

"Certainly not the case a few weeks ago." Donnie said, frowning a little. "It was fortunate I identified the moment he snapped."

Leo crossed his arms and glanced at the door. "Do you really think this will help?" He asked, gesturing towards the room.

"Lack of proper sleep can easily make someone irritable." Donnie said, tilting his head. "Consider how Raph is perpetually in that state of mind." He gave a slight shrug. "I don't think I need to elaborate further."

"I see your reasoning." Leo said, patting his shoulder. "We'll be waiting downstairs."

Donnie nodded then carefully opened the door, cautiously stepping inside and leaving it open so he could see the floor. Raph kept his room somewhat tidy, but his ever shifting minefield of weights was a veritable death trap.

"I hope you're back to normal soon." He whispered, leaning down and softly kissing his forehead. "I love you."

He pulled back only to freeze when Raph twisted in his hammock, eyes opening a little to look up at him. "Love ya too."

"I know." He said, placing a hand on his forehead as he smiled down at him. "Get some sleep." Donnie said softly, tucking a blanket around broad shoulders.

Raph nuzzled his hand a little before shifting to get comfortable again, letting an arm dangle on the side which caused Donnie to chuckle. He never did understand how Raph could feel content when he was in such uncomfortable looking positions. Probably the worst of them being when all four limbs were hanging off the sides which was a common sight.

It was nice to see Raph being somewhat affectionate, considering how emotionally distant he'd been after Leo's departure to South America, at least after he'd failed to return when he was supposed to. Donnie didn't hold it against him though, knowing it was just the big brother instincts that had kicked into overdrive. Once Leo came back, shit hit the fan so to speak, and Donnie found himself wallowing in regret when the Nightwatcher's identity was revealed. It was expected considering he had quite literally insulted his mate to his face without even knowing it. He quietly made his way back, closing the door softly behind him before joining his awaiting brothers for their nighttime patrol.

A few moments later gold eyes snapped open and Raph carefully padded to his door, unerringly avoiding the weights, pressing his ear against it. He waited until he heard the lair door close and then silently moved over to his cabinet, opening it and eyeing the items inside.

_"Way to pull my heartstrings Donnie." _He thought with a frown as he grabbed a few necessary items, including his favorite knife he'd acquired during his time as the armored vigilante.

It had belonged to a Purple Dragon and it was a lovely thing indeed. The handle had a coiled dragon reminiscent of their signature tattoo, and the blade had a serrated edge. Raph had taken a liking to it instantly and had taken it after having given the thug a beat down to remember him by. He kept it on his person when he left the lair, usually strapped to his left thigh, but sometimes on his upper arm instead, whatever appealed to him at any given moment. Leo had voiced his disapproval of the weapon, but had otherwise left the subject alone when it was clear he wasn't going to relinquish it without a fight.

Raph continued to eye the items inside until the phone hidden in his obi finally vibrated. He pulled it out and turned off the alarm as he moved to his door, hiding it once more. Carefully he opened it, eyeing his surroundings for a moment before slipping out and closing it with care. Keeping to the deepest shadows he silently crept down the stairs, making his way silently towards the lair entrance.

"Raphael?"

_"Damn turtle luck." _Raph turned to face his father, slipping his shell cell out even as a thought occurred to him.

"Why are you sneaking out of the lair?" Splinter inquired, both hands set on his walking stick.

"Can't sleep no more. Was tryin' not ta wake ya." He said, looking at his phone. "Gonna meet wit' the guys an' finish patrol wit' em."

Splinter eyed him for a moment and Raph met his searching gaze evenly. "Very well, but be prudent until you find them."

"Yeah, yeah, stick to the shadows an' all that." Raph said impatiently. "Can I go now?"

"You may." Splinter replied, shaking his head as he made his way back to his room. "But contact your brothers and have them meet with you." He added, turning to regard him again.

"Sure." Raph said, bringing the shell cell to his ear as he left the lair, only to tuck it away the moment he was safely out of sight. _"No can do, pops."_

He took off at a brisk run, ducking in and out of various sewer tunnels he knew like the back of his hand. Eventually he made it to the manhole he wanted and went up, pushing the cover a little and peeking out before cautiously leaving its safety. He crouched as he replaced the cover, his eyes darting everywhere. Raph made a quick hand motion once he was satisfied and Karai slipped out of the shadows.

"You had no problems I suspect?" She asked as she came up to him, resting a hand on his arm.

Raph grabbed her wrist in a death grip. "M'not a touchy feely kinda guy." He growled with narrowed eyes.

"I understand, my Lord." She said, rubbing her wrist once he let her go.

"Pops caught me sneakin' out, told 'im I was meetin' wit' the guys." Raph said, ignoring her and eyeing his surroundings, head tilted as he thought. "Speakin' of that, we're goin' to the docks."

"Why?"

Raph took off at a run, forcing her to follow. "Yer goin' ta love this." He said, smirking at her over his shoulder.

They ran on for a few blocks, occasionally darting into alleys and taking stock of their surroundings. Karai checking out their surroundings from the ground while Raphael would creep up a fire escape and take stock of the rooftops. Eventually Raph came to a stop in front of a store and she molded herself against the building.

"Keep an eye open for trouble." He growled, turning to the locked door of the store. "I won't be long."

She nodded as he broke open the lock with his weapon. Raph spotted two cameras as he peered inside and with practiced ease he tossed two smoke pellets before dashing inside. A display case caught his attention and he smashed it open, snatching two pistols and stuffing them in his belt. The lock on the ammunition cabinet stood little chance against his methods and he hastily took the necessary rounds.

"I hear sirens." Karai called softly from the door.

Raph came to stand beside her, listening intently before heading to a nearby manhole and moving it aside. He tilted his head towards it and she nodded and leapt down and he followed, replacing the cover. He immediately sprinted when his feet touched the ground, glancing periodically over his shoulder to make sure she was still following.

"Where are we going?" She asked when he suddenly darted into another tunnel and she was hard pressed to keep up.

"I told ya, the docks." He growled, his face beginning to show his annoyance.

"Why the guns then?" She asked, unaware that she was beginning to grate on his nerves. "It makes no sense."

Raph turned suddenly with a snarl and grabbed her by the throat, slamming her against the sewer wall with his face inches from hers. "Did I ask for your opinion?" He inquired, brushing the tip of a sai below her eye.

"No, my Lord."

"Then keep yer trap shut," He snarled, stabbing the sai into the wall inches from her head. "...or else." He finished in a warning tone.

Karai's eyes darted to the weapon only inches away. Reflexively her mouth opened to respond before she snapped it shut again only moments before an utterance could sneak its way past.

A devilish grin was her reward. "Good girl." Raph purred as he turned away.

Karai pushed some hair behind her ear before closing her eyes, taking a steadying breath.

"Move!" Raph snapped, jolting her back to attention. "We don' have all night."


End file.
